Systems and methods for detecting a sitting duck scenario of a vehicle on or near a road are disclosed. The current location and speed of the vehicle are used for different comparisons and/or determinations, including a comparison to road-specific information to determine whether the vehicle is in a particular proximity of a highway, and a determination whether the vehicle has been stationary continuously for at least a specified duration. Additional comparisons and/or determinations may be used. If such an occurrence has been detected, one or more notifications are generated, and provided to one or more of the vehicle operator and/or a remote computing server.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the particular proximity is determined based on a distance threshold, and wherein the distance threshold is 100 feet or less, and wherein the specified duration is at least 5 minutes.
4. The system of claim 2, wherein the distance threshold used to determine the particular proximity varies based on one or more of (i) a particular type of a road closest to the current location of the vehicle, (ii) a particular type of the obtained geographical location information, (iii) how many traffic lanes are heading in a same direction as the vehicle at the current location of the vehicle, (iv) how many traffic lanes form the road closest to at the current location of the vehicle, and (v) a speed limit for the road closest to at the current location of the vehicle.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of designated areas for stopping vehicles includes rest stops and travel centers.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the set of designated areas for stopping vehicles further includes common stop areas that have been identified based on historical vehicle usage.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first determination includes a determination that any part of the vehicle is within a specified minimum distance of any part of a highway having one or more traffic lanes heading in opposite directions, wherein the specified minimum distance is at least 25 feet.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the current location of the vehicle includes determining a current road selected from the one or more roads such that the current road is closer to the current location of the vehicle than other roads in the one or more roads, wherein the current road has a centerline between traffic lanes heading in opposite directions, wherein the combination of at least three determinations includes a determination that the vehicle is stationary in an orientation parallel to the current road, and wherein the first determination is that the current location of the vehicle is within 50 feet of the centerline of the current road.
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February 12, 2021
May 28, 2024
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